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Godzilla Minus One Review

 


I have been a Godzilla fan since childhood. I have been enjoying the revival Gojira is having with both the Toho and Monsterverse entries, as well as the animes. I felt Shin Godzilla was a masterpiece, so when Toho chose to do another film, Godzilla Minus One, I was all in. 


The story takes places between 1945-1947 when a Kamikaze Pilot named Koichi Shikishima is on Odo Island when Godzilla attacks a Juvenal. Haunted by the mechanics that died and that he once again did not do his duty, he has nightmares and forma a make shift family with Noriko Oishi and little girl  who he found destitute in the aftermath of World War II. The character development is top notch, with the cast delivering lovable characters, especially the mine demolition crew. 


This Godzilla has heart, the people and their struggle against the Monster God feels grounded, you care about them and understand that Japan needs a victory against Godzilla, because they are a defeated nation mourning great loss, they need redemption, which is driven home when they salute the dead Gojira as he sinks to sea floor after a Feron gas scheme and Phantom airplane bomb to the mouth. 


What impressed me the most wasn’t only how great the cast was, I forgot I was reading subtitles, but the action, Godzilla having the spikes that rise when they glow blue for atomic breath was an epic touch and I love he had The Heisei Era design, that and his breath causing an atomic explosion was neat, making me wonder who would win in a fight? Shin Godzilla or Minus Zero Godzilla? 


What l loved most about the film was the message about life being precious. The hero Koichi  was a Kamikazi pilot, they flew into ships like at Pearl Harbor, but he refuses to do this and then later the love of his life Noriko says she promised her mother “to live,” and when Koichi seems he is going to kill himself in the plane to stop Godzilla he uses an eject seat that a mechanic shows him bidding him to “live.” This is poignant message especially because Japan has a long history of death cult beliefs, the Samurai doing ritual suicide. This repetition of “live,” and choosing to live is a powerful one, reminding me of “keep yourself alive,” (Queen), and that Jesus our Lord wants us to live for He is The Life, “I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, none may come to The Father except through me.” (Joyn 14:6). 


The ending when it is revealed Noriko lived after a Godzilla attack is so touching as Koichi sobs on her knee. His war is over and now they can have a happy life together. And then we see Godzilla’s corpse and it regenerating with epic music, telling us God Incarnate (Godzilla means God Incarnate, his death giving hope to Japan could be seen as allegory of Jesus dying to give us the blessed hope of salvation) will return. 


I highly recommend this movie for its great message about staying alive, forgiveness, love, and facing a monster as a community, that people prevail if they work together and put aside any enmities they have. I would say this is my favorite Godzilla film, with Shin Godzilla a close second, and Godzilla versus SpaceGodzilla third. I can see why it got the Oscar, it is a story of hope and life in face of bleak odds, a timely message in these turbulent times. Amen. 


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